The beginning

Hello all and welcome to what is sure to be a spectacular blog. First, I must give credit to Mr. Jeremy Kenyon for convincing me this was a good idea. Jeremy is headed off to Africa (again) for the summer and thought a blog would be a good way to let people know what was going on and document his trip. I am following his lead and will be doing the same. I tend to forget most things that happen so hopefully this will serve as my memory.

For those of you who don't know what I am about to embark upon, I am spending roughly 3 and a half weeks in Asia. I will be in Japan for a little over a week and in China for two. I am happy to say I will be joined by my father and this will be our first trip to Asia. I have never been overseas and am looking forward to seeing all the sights, meeting all the people, and getting out of my comfort zone. I am not looking forward to wierd food, extremely high temperatures, and lots of insects (though Michigan has proven to have all three.) We don't leave untill July 10th and there is still plenty left to do. To catch you up to speed (and to serve as a checklist) here is a list of what's been taken care of so far:

Passport
Chinese visa
Waterproof shoes
Theftproof backpack
Sun hat
Adventure pants
Adventure shirts
Adventure socks
Water purifier bottle
Waterproof jacket
Camera

That's all I can think of right now. I would love for those of you who have traveled overseas to tell me what else I need. Any good luggage for having to move all the time? How much do I actually need to bring? Is anyone actually reading this???

As this is summer, I actually have the time to spend on blogging. I will be sure to share even the tiniest minutia that is my Asian Adventure. Oh, any good underwear for a trip like this?

XXOO,

Matt